Shade-roller



F. E VHLHAMS.

SHADE ROLLER. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 24, 1918.

1,373,641. Patented Apr. 5, 1921.

A INVENTUPL, o rw a M 1 HIS ATTUBNEY.

llhllTEQ STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK E. WILLIAMS, OF ALHAMBRA, CALIFORNIA.

:sHADE-ROLLER.

Application. filed June 24 To all 10. mm it may concern:

Be it known that l, FRANK VVILLIAMs, a citizen of the United btates,residing at Alhambra, in the county of Los Angeles and State ofCalifornia, have invented new and useful improvements in Shade-Rollers,of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to shade rollers, and more particularly to shaderollers of the spring actuated type wherein a torsion spring is employedto rotate the roller and so roll up the shade and against which spring.action the shade is drawn in the lowering and unrolling of the same. Theinvention has for its object to provide a shade roller ot the generalnature stated which will be free from the disadvantages oi such rollersas ordinarily constructed, in

that it is more positive in action, may be adjusted to a nicety and willautomatically be brought to a step in case of accidental release duringthe manipulation of the same; these desiderata are not met with ordinaryshade roller practice, as may be readily demonstrated by attempting toclosely adjust the lower margin oi a shade mounted upon an ordinary orstandard roller, as to the case of nicety of adjustment, and. byreleasing the grip on the shade during the unrolling or the rolling upaction, as to the automatic stopping of the roller; in the latter case,in ordinary practice, it will be found that the shade will rush tocompletely rolled up position when released, and when stopped at all,such stoppage willbe due to either the completely unwound condition oi":the spring or to stop page by impact of? lower marginal shade portionsas they strike and lodge in the crotch formed by the roller and thewindow casing upon which the shade is mounted; the non desirability ofsuch impact is obvious.

In accordance with the present invention, a. spring actuated rolleradapted to have a shade secured thereto and wound thereupon may beprovided and such roller and its spring. may resemble the conventionaltype to a certain extent in that the roller is rotatable about aninternally disposed fixed rod to which one end of the spring is secured,and about which the sgring is coiled, the other end of the spring beingsecured in such manner to the roller that the same may be rotatedthereby; however, in the present invention, an engagement means,preferably in the form of a pawl, is provided in conjunc- Patented Apr.5, 1921.

1.918. Serial No. 241,471.

tion with the fixed rod and in position to be acted upon and against byco-acting means, preferably in the form of two series of bars carried bythe roller. The pawl being preferably mounted for oscillation about afixed pivot is adapted for engagement with either series of bars, and isprojected into one or the other of such series or bars to stop theroller, or into an annular free space between the two series of bars,according to the rate of speed or rotatory motion of the roller. T hepawl is adapted for locking engagement with the bars only to preventrotation thereof in a certain direction, namely, in the direction ofmovement directly caused by the spring, so that the roller may be freelyrotated in unrolling the shade, but must be released or fed back to theroller at a speed intermediate the slow rate of speed at which a bar ofone series would be caught by the pawl, and the high rate of speed atwhich a bar of the other .series would be caught by the pawl. The pawlis preferably arranged to fall into the slow speed series of bars bygravity, and such bars are preferably each of such form that at theintermediate speed of roller rotation under impulse of the spring thepawl is projected upwardly into the annular space as each bar of the lowspeed series strikes it, so causing it to remain out of contact with theleading edge the next succeeding bar 0% the slow speed series; the pawlhowever, at intermediate roller speed, falls onto such succeeding barbehind the leading edge thereof and is projected upwardly thereby ontothe next succeeding'bar. At relatively slow speed of roller rotation,such as is permitted by proper manipulation oi the shade, the pawl fallsdownwardly so that a nose thereon enters the space between two bars ofthe slow speed series and contacts with the oncoming leading edge of abar, so stopping the roller, the sp 'ing holding the bar and pawl nosein engagement. At high speed of roller rotation, as under impulse of thespring when unrestrained by manually holding the shade, or otherwise, abar of the slow speed series will strike the pawl with such force thatthe same will be driven upwardly far enough to engage one of the bars ofthe high speed series and so lock the roller against further movementunder urgence of the spring until manually released by first pullingdownwardly upon the shade. i v i 1 With the above and other objects inview,

including relative simplicity and inexpensiveness in construction andorganization coupled with reliability and serviceability, the inventionconsists in the novel and useful provision, formation, combination,association and relative arrangement of parts, members and features, allas hereinafter described, shown in the drawing and finally pointed outin claims.

in the drawin Figure 1 is a central longitudinal sectional view of ashade roller constructed and organized to embody the invention, the viewbeing taken on the line :a m Fig. 4i, and looking in the direction ofthe appended arrows; I

2 is a transverse sectional View taken on the line B Fig. 1, and lookingin the direction of the appended arrows;

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line afi-wfl Fig. 1,and looking in the direction of the appended arrows;

Fig. 4: is a view similar to Fig. 3, but with parts shown in otherpositions; and

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line x '-ra"', Fig.1, and looking in the direction of the appended arrows, parts beingomitted for clearness of illustration.

Corresponding parts in all the figures are lesignated by the samereference characters.

Referring with articularity to the drawing; in the embodiment of theinvention therein shown, A designates a shaderoller, B designates springmeans therefor, C designates'engagement means, and Band E designate,respectively,.normal stop means and automatic stop means, either ofwhich means may co-act with the engagement means C in motion checkingaction, according'to the speed of roller rotation.

The roller A comp ises a preferably wooden body portion 6 having ajournal, not shown, at its one end and whereby such end may be rotatablysupported in a bracket in the usual manner.- and having alongitudinalbore 7 extending inwardly thereof its other end. The springmeans B for i rusting the roller is shown as comprising a l .lical.torsion spring 8 having its one end secured to a rod9 which rod isdisposed in the bore 7, and having its other end 8 se- H cured to aspring-clip 1O driven into the bore '7 at the bored and of the woodenbody 6. The rod 9, spring 8 and clip 10 may be of the well knownstandard type and the mode o'fsecuring the spring ends to the rod and Iclip may follow the usual practice, one end of the rod 9 beingpreferably insertedin the clip, 10 which is formed to receive the same.

Theengagement means C is shown as comprising an oscillatory pawl 11mounted upon a supporting plate 12 as by means of a pivot 13. The pawlmay be apertured at.

11 'toreceivethe pivot and may be confined between the plate 12 and ahead 13 on the pivot the pivot extending into and being riveted onto theplate 12'as at 13 The plate 12 is centrally apertured as at 12 toreceive the shank portion of a bracketengaging member 1.4:; such shankportion comprises a stud 1 1 fitted into the end of the rod 9 at theclip 10, and a tubular pivot portion .l4: fitted over the stud 14 thetubular pivot portion 14*, the stud 14s, the plate 12, and the rod 9 allbeing fixed and held together when the parts are in proper assemblage;the stud 14 is held to the rod 9 by a pin 14L passed through an aperture14; provided in the rod and stud. The member 14 is formed at its outerend with a flat portion 14 adapted to be held in a vertical plane, and aainst rotation, in a standard bracket, a projection 14 indicating thatthe st s provided with such projection is to be the lower edge as theflat portion is inserted in the vertical slot usually provided in thestandard bracket for the correspond i end of the shade roller.

The pawl 11 at its free end is bifurcated to provide a notch 1.1 so thatthe pawl is adapted for engagement with bars of either the normal stopmeans or the automatic stop means.

The normal stop means l) is shown as comprising a series of :tour bars15 preterably formed JH E I'SLllY with and struck out from a plate 15and so providing a central aperture 15 in the plate 15 which apertureaccommodates the tubularpivot 143 of the member 14, the .inner surfacesof the bars resting on such tubular portion i l" and so rot-stablysupporting the plate 15 and the wooden body 6 attached thereto, willpresently be described. The bars 15 are preferably arranged tangentiallyabout the pivot portion 1 1 and each be arranged at right angles toadjacent bars, so together forming a sort of interrupted square each oarextending from one corner of thesquare toward another corner butterminating in a leading edge 1.5" a short distance from such corner andso providing an interspace between adiacentbars into which a prong 11"Of the bifurcated end of the pawl may fall. The bars extend across apawlspacebetweentheplate l2 and the plate l5 the plate 15 and over theperipheral margin.

of the plate 12 and are preferably striick up from the plate 15* in amanner similar to the formation of the inner series of bars 15 of themeans D but outwardly thereof, so providing for an annular space betweenthe two series, the pivot and pawl being aocommodated in such space. Thebars 16 preferably are arranged with their under surfaces inclinedinwardly so as to present a leading edge 16 to the pawl notch forengagement by theprong 11 of the pawl 11, such prong 11 entering one ofthe interspaces 16 between adjacent bars 16 when projected upwardly withsufficient force by the bars of the inner series to raise the nose ofthe pawl to the zone of the bars 16.

it will be understood that any desired number of either the bars 15 orthe bars 16 may be provided, the degree of roller rotation under theimpulse of the spring before checking action may be had through eitherof the checking orstop means C or 1) being directly dependent upon thenumber of bars in the respective series.

The spring attachment clip is preferably provided with a pair ofoppositely disposed reduced tips 10 and 10 which are inserted throughapertures in the plate and the tips 10 and 10 bent over against theforward face of the plate 15, channels 17 being provided in such face toaccommo date the tips and prevent their interference with pawl action.An aperture to receive the pivot portion 14 is provided centrally in theclip 10 and a washer 18 may be clamped between the clip 10 and the backface of'the plate 15 The parts thus being held in assemblage, the plate15 with its bars 15 and 16 is secured to the spring clip 10 which is inturn fitted intothe bore 7 of-the roller body, so uniting these partsfor joint rotation. A ferrule 19 provided with an aperture 19 throughwhich the member l i projects is fitted to the wooden roller body 6 inposition to serve as a housing for the parts. 7

' the member 14: and parts fixed thereto secured against rotation, thepawl pivot being so fixedly disposed at a point above'the series of bars15, the pawl nose will be held, due to gravitatiomagainst one of thebars 15 of the inner or slow speed series. When the shade is unrolled inthe usual manner as by drawing down on the lower marginal portionthereof, the pawl beingcut away as at 11 on its under side, will bethrown out of the interspace between two bars and so permit rotation ofthe roller body with its bars 15 and 16, the rotation being in thedirection indicated by the curved arrow near Fig. 8. Upon drawing downthe shade to the extent desired, it may be secured in its position ofadjustment by allowing it to further movement by the spring. As themotion of the pawl is entirely dependent upon the speed of rotation ofthe bars 15, it may be caused to ride over each bar 15 and be projectedvertically by each such bar as the inclined outer surfaces of succeedingbars impinge upon the pawl nose, each succeeding vertical projection ofthe pawl nose enabling it to ride overthe gap or interspace providedbetween adjacent bars 15 and so leap from bar to bar as long assupported by an intermediate speed of roller and bar rotation; this isthe action of the pawl during the rolling up action of the shade underthe torque of the spring and when manipulated so as to be fed to the vroller at a moderate speed only.

If, however, the shade is released at any point in its travel and in amanner permitting the spring to transmit a rapid rate of rotation to theroller, a bar'15 violently striking the pawl nose will send it flyingupwardly to the zone of the bars 16 and the first of such bars 16 topresent itself to the pawl nose will be caught thereby atits leadingedge and further rotation prevented so bringing the roller to a stopalmost immediately after a free start, and avoiding the damage andannoyance caused by the slamming and, impact of shade parts incident tothe use of the aforementioned ordinary forms of spring'rollers- It ismanifest that manychanges and*departures from the disclosure herein maybe made in adapting the invention to various requirementsof use andservice without departing from the spirit of the invention and the termsof the following claims.

Having thus disclosed my invention, I

claim and desire-to secureby Letters Patent:

elements of said series, and a second, series of elements rotatable withsaid body memher and against which thepawl is projected by an element ofsaid first named series at high rate of speed of body member rotation;said pawl'engaging an element of said first named series to hold thebody member against rotation under influence of the spring at slow rateof speed of body rota tion; and the leading and following edges of eachof the elements of said first named series being disposed atdifferentrradial distances from the center of rotation.

52. A shade roller comprising a rotatable body member, a springsupporting rod extending into said body member and adapted to be heldagainst rotation, a spring connected with said body member and said rod,means for rotatably mounting said body member, a series of elementsrotatable with said body member and adapted for pawl actuation, a pawlheld against rotation with said body member and adapted to fall underthe influence of gravitation against said elements, and a second seriesof elements rotatable with said body member and against which the pawlis projected by an element'of said first named series at a high rate ofspeed of body rotation, said pawl engaging an element of said firstnamed series to hold the body member against rotation under influence ofthe spring at a slow rate 'of speed of body rotation; the elements ofsaid first named series being each provided with a leading edge which ispresented to the pawl in a plane lower than the following edge of theelement and whereby the pawl is impinged upon'to project the sameupwardly and so permit the introduction of the leading edges ofsuccessively presented elements-of such series thereunder at a moderatespeed of body rotation.

3. A shade roller comprising a hollow rotatable body member, a springsupporting rod extendinginto said body member, a

spring connected with said member and said rod, means for rotatablymounting said body member, means whereby said rod maybe held againstrotation, an oscillatory pawl held against rotation about the axis ofsaid body member, and a plurality of seriesof pawl-engaging elementssecured to said body member for rotation therewith;

said pawl being adapted for engagement with the elements of one of saidseries as it falls under the influence ofgravitation at a slow speed ofbody member rotation to stop the body member and being adaptedforengagement with the elements of the other series when impinged uponby the elements of the first series during high rate of speed.

of body member rotation to stopthe body member; and the leading andfollowing edges of each "of the elements of said first series beingdisposed at different radial distances from the center of rotation.

1 4e, shade rollercomprising a hollow ro tatable body member, a springsupporting rod extending into said body member, a spring connected withsaid body member and said rod, means for rotatably mounting said bodymember, means for preventing rotation of the rod, a'pawl mounted so asto be held against rotation with said body member, an inner series ofpawl-engaging elements rotatable with said body member and between whichthe pawl is adapted to fall and stop the body member when the bodymember rotates at slow speed under urgence of the spring, an outerseries of elements rotatable with the body member and between which thepawl may be thrown by the elements of the inner series impinging thereonat a high rate of speed of body member rotation under urgence of thespring so to stop the body member; and the leading and following edgesof each of the elements of said inner series being disposed at differentradial distances from the center of rotation.

5. A shade roller comprising ahollow rotatable body member, a springsupporting rod extending into said body member, a spring connected withsaid body member and said rod, means for rotatably mounting said bodymember, means for preventing rotation of the rod, a pawl mounted so asto be held against rotation with said body member, an inner series ofpawl-engagingelements rotatable with said body member and between whichthe pawl is adapted to fall and stop the body member when the bodymember rotates at slow speed under urgence of the spring, an outerseries of elements rotatable with the body member and between which thepawl may be thrown by the elements of the inner seriesimpinging thereonat ahigh-"rate of speed of body member rotation under I urgence of thespring so to stop the body membertthe pawhengaging surfaces of the innerseries of elements being so formed that at a moderate speed of rotationunder the urgence of the spring the pawl will be projected into but notacross the space between the two series of elements by the impingementof successively presented elements of the inner series thereagainst sopreventing the pawl entering spaces between elements of the same seriesduring such moderate speedof body rotation; andthe leading and follow-

